LI-QUAN :TIGER CRUSADER EXTRAORDINNAIRE

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*August 07, 2006* [image: Print

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SHE was once head of worldwide licensing at Italian fashion giant Gucci.

 

But Beijing native Li Quan gave that all up for a catwalk of a different

kind - to start a foundation devoted to saving the South China tiger from

extinction.

 

Born in Beijing, Ms Li graduated from Beijing University and went on to do

her Masters degree in the prestigious Wharton Business School in the US.

 

A fan of fashion since young, she eventually worked her way up to become

head of worldwide licensing at Italian fashion house Gucci.

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Save China's Tigers*

 

Her crusade to save the South China tiger - the world's most endangered

tiger subspecies - began about seven years ago when she retired from her

post and went on a safari holiday in Zambia with her investment banker

husband Stuart Bray, reported The Daily Mail.

 

'It dawned on me that the Zambians see wildlife as an economic resource,' Ms

Li, 44, told The Daily Mail.

 

*'The animals attract a huge number of tourists. As a result, they feed them

and keep them healthy, and there's not much poaching.

 

'I thought 'What if China adopted (these) ideals?' *

 

She quickly got in contact with a senior Chinese official, who suggested

that she use her resources to help save the South China tiger from

extinction.

 

Scientists estimate that there are only about 100 South China tigers alive

today, with about 60 in captivity and the rest living in the wild.

 

So in 2000, she set up a non-profit foundation in London called Save China's

Tigers.

 

She also came up with a novel way to help reintegrate South China tiger cubs

bred in captivity back into the wild.

 

'Normally, cubs learn to kill from their mother. These tigers have been bred

in zoos and they have never learnt to hunt,' she explained.

 

'But if we want to save the species and ensure they survive in the wild,

then we have to teach them to fend for themselves.'

 

The plan was to take South China tiger cubs from Chinese zoos and let them

grow up in South Africa, where they can learn to hunt.

 

There, they will also be encouraged to breed, and the wild offspring will

then be transported back to a nature reserve in China.

 

*$23M TIGER HOME*

 

Ms Li's multimillionaire husband bought 17 old sheep farms covering 324 sq

km (just under half the size of Singapore) for about 8 million ($23.7m), and

converted it into a 'training school' for the big cats.

 

She also roped in celebrity patrons for her cause, including Jackie Chan,

Michelle Yeoh and Nick Rhodes from the band Duran Duran.

 

In 2003, the first two cubs, Cathay and Hope, were released to the

foundation for retraining.

 

Things did not go smoothly at first.

 

When the cubs were first put into a quarantine camp, they were attacked by a

troop of wild baboons.

 

Hope was savagely bitten, but managed to survive the attack.

 

Training the cubs also proved a little more difficult than Ms Li first

thought.

 

*'I released a cockerel and I don't think they had any idea what it was,'

she recalls.*

 

'They just stood there watching it, and it stared right back at them. When

the cockerel made a move, the tigers made a move, then the cockerel stopped,

and the tigers stopped. It

was hilarious.

 

'But it didn't take long to get the hang of it. It's been more difficult to

teach them to kill bigger animals.'

 

In 2004, they received another two cubs, Madonna and Tiger Woods, and began

training them to stalk and kill prey like antelopes.

 

Ms Li explained that the cubs learned to hunt mostly by trial and error,

adjusting their hunting habits over time until they get it right.

 

For example, the tigers would start out by charging at the antelopes, who

easily outran them.

 

Eventually, they would instinctively learn to attack in teams, with one

tiger distracting the prey while the other one sneaked in from behind.

 

'We didn't physically show them how to do this but we were there to feed

them if they didn't catch anything.

 

'Now Cathay, in particular, is a very proficient killer.'

 

*Ms Li hopes to have the three tigers (Hope died last year of a weak heart)

relocated to a Chinese nature reserve by 2008 to coincide with the Olympics.

*

 

And while she acknowledges that her efforts may not be enough get the South

China tigers thriving again, Ms Li said that she has no regrets spending the

last seven years of her life devoted to them.

 

'At least we've tried,' she said.

 

'Since the resources are in place, there are other species we might try to

save such as the snow leopard. But don't write off the South China tiger

yet.'